Change of pace today 'cause I just need to vent about a pet peeve of mine. Does anyone other than me detest the phrase "What you see is what you get"? While it may have a practical application, such as for building web pages, I do not agree for one moment that it is an accurate statement when we hear people mutter it about themselves. My own dad said this to me once many years ago when I tried to get to know him better. I always felt as though there was a wall of sorts between us. Perhaps that is the true meaning behind "WYSIWYG."
"See this face/persona that I am showing you? Well baby, that's all you're gonna get outta me." It really isn't the truth about a person--how in the world could it be? We are complex human beings! We have more stuff rolling around inside of us then even we are aware of at times. I believe there are those people that honestly don't even want to truly know themselves; hence their inability or refusal to dig deeper to discover it. They are afraid they might not like what they find and if that is true, then for sure no one else will. So they put on this "face" fit for general consumption and lull us into thinking that is all there is to know about them. I call "toro caca" on that.
I have never and will never say WYSIWYG to anyone, because it's a bald-faced lie. Lord, I sure hope there is more to me than what meets everyone elses eye! We all have our "social face" of course. Sort of reminds me of that line from The Mask...."we all wear masks." But if you want to truly know me, then spend some time with me. Hang around me, ask me questions. I think you will quickly discover that "what you see is what you get" couldn't be further from the truth with me!
Ugh. I gotta know--why do people use this? Do they really believe it? To me it's like saying "really I'm quite boring. This face of mine is the perfect descriptor of my entire personality." Who would ever want to be their friend? Also, I'll bet some really crazy people have used this expression. But I'm not sure I want to know who they might be. (Serial killer? Compulsive liar?) The discovery might scare me, especially for the next time someone used it on me.
Cut it out people! You are more than who you appear to be so don't sell yourself short. If you don't want to share you with others or even those closest to you, then come up with something different to say, please! Anyone have any suggestions?
Next time: I'm going to tell you what I think about the phrase "It's all good."
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